OTTAWA: Canada’s ex-Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole has accused China of hitting him with misinformation and voter suppression campaigns during the 2021 Canadian election.
The Hong Kong-born Canadian lawmaker said he was targeted for his human rights activism.
According to CNN, O’Toole told Canadian Parliament the previous week that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) identified several threats against him.
He said, “Each of these serious threats was intended to discredit me, promote wrong narratives about my policies, and many obstruct my work as a member of Parliament and as leader of the official opposition.”
O’Toole emphasised that alleged wrong information occurred in the run-up to the 2021 election, which saw the reelection of a Liberal Party government led by PM Justin Trudeau. O’Toole is a current Member of Parliament.
A day earlier, New Democrat Member of Parliament Jenny Kwan said that CSIS had informed her that a foreign interference campaign hit her and “would continue to be a target.”
Kwan said, “Coming out of this briefing, it is more clear to me than ever that I will not be intimidated, that I’ll not be silenced in any way, whoever is trying to put pressure on me in whatever way they’re trying to do it, they’ll not succeed.”
